Now that I’ve spent more than a month with the OnePlus 15, I have a better understanding of what this flagship phone brings to the table. It recently became available via pre-order, and with the help of a $100 trade in credit for any device in any condition, it will cost you $899 plus tax at checkout.
In my OnePlus 15 review, I said how I couldn’t believe that the best phone to come out this year waited until now to be released. I still stand behind that claim now that I’ve kept the OnePlus 15 as one of my daily drivers, replacing the Galaxy Z Flip 7 in the process.
OnePlus 15: What I Like
Battery life is a cut above anything else
Average Battery life (Hrs:Mins) | Charging % in 15 minutes | Charging % in 30 minutes | |
OnePlus 15 | 25:13 | 45% | 81% |
iPhone 17 Pro Max | 17:54 | 35% | 64% |
Galaxy S25 Ultra | 14:27 | 37% | 71% |
Above all, the OnePlus 15 sets a record for having the best phone battery life Tom’s Guide has ever tested with its average time of 25 hours and 13 minutes. This continues to be the stellar standout with the phone, even more than a month of using it. By comparison, the OnePlus 15 handily beats the times of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra.
When I first put it to the test, I found the OnePlus 15 at 68% capacity by the end of the first day. More than a month later, I’m still seeing it at roughly above 60% on most nights — which says a lot because it can still last me a full two days of usage. Other phones would typically be under 25%, so it says a lot about the new carbon-silicone battery tech it’s leveraging.
Much improved AI features
Last year's OnePlus 13 saw OnePlus finally entering the AI wars — but I thought the features were forgettable. This time, though, the company has invested heavily around OnePlus AI and the results show it.
The OnePlus AI features that come with the OnePlus 15 are more or less clones of AI features found on other phones, but I’m still really impressed with the AI-assisted photo editing tools offered by OnePlus. Honestly, it’s a night-and-day difference because these AI features work well.
For example, I really enjoy how generative AI is being used to give me options to change frowns into smiles with the AI Perfect Shot feature. Meanwhile, AI Portrait Glow realistically adds better lighting to my portrait shots.
Really sharp macro photography
The OnePlus 15 is a force with its triple 50MP rear camera array, but it’s particularly confident at capturing macro photos. In my own testing, I love how the OnePlus 15 beats the iPhone 17 Pro, delivering sharper images with more detail like in the shots above.
My colleague Richard Priday can also attest to the OnePlus 15's strong macro photography performance with his OnePlus 15 vs Pixel 10 Pro XL photo shootout. Not convinced it’s good? He’s even put the OnePlus 15 vs iPhone 17 Pro Max cameras to the test with a 10-round shootout.
Fast charging
As much as I’m still astounded by the long-lasting battery life of the OnePlus 15, I can’t overlook the fact that it’s one of the fastest charging phones on the market. The U.S. variant tops out at 80W wired speeds, while the overseas model can get up to 100W.
Even though it has a much larger 7,300 mAh battery cell, the OnePlus 15 still charges way faster than the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 5,000 mAh battery. In fact, the OnePlus device gets up to 81% with 30 minutes of charging — whereas the Galaxy S25 Ultra gets to 71%.
Since I’m able to get more than two full days of battery on the OnePlus 15, I’ve had times when I’m at work when it finally reaches a critically low level. But thanks to its fast charging, I don’t have to keep the phone charging for that long.
Crazy fast refresh rate for some games
I put in a lot of time playing games on the OnePlus 15, but only certain games can unlock the display's faster 165Hz display refresh rate. Once you experience this, it’s tough to go back to anything else because of the insane amount of responsiveness it offers.
Games that support this faster refresh rate include PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile. Don’t get me wrong, they look exceptionally fluid on other flagships, but this 165Hz refresh rate mode dials up the response — which makes targeting enemies with those games way better with the OnePlus 15 than any other phone I’ve tested.
Best multitasking in a slate
Finally, I can’t forget about how the OnePlus 15 makes multitasking easier on a slate phone with its updated experience.
What makes the OnePlus 15 multitasking way better than anything else I’ve previously used is how it can dynamically change the frame of each app. Rather than getting split-screen versions of two apps running simultaneously, it dynamically changes the frame so that I can still access both apps in full-screen mode.
OnePlus 15: What I Don't Like
Low light camera performance could be better
If there’s one area of opportunity that I’d like to see improved with the next OnePlus phone, it has to be the 50MP main camera’s performance under low light. It’s still better than what it was like with OnePlus flagships years ago, but if OnePlus wants to be considered a serious best camera phone contender, it can’t afford to come up short in the low light department.
After shooting the same set of photos with the OnePlus 15 and iPhone 17 Pro, it’s pretty obvious that the OnePlus 15 can’t brighten dark scenes as well as the iPhone can.
In my experience, the OnePlus 15 can still pull up good results when there’s a little bit of ambient light around. But in pitch black conditions, it clearly underperforms.
Display is sensitive to the touch
I can overlook the fact that the OnePlus 15 has a lower resolution 6.78-inch OLED display compared to the previous OnePlus 13, but the thing that annoys me is that the display can feel too sensitive at times. It’s hard to say if the phone's 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate is to blame, but I often come across situations when a slight touch or tap causes it to react — like opening an app when I’m trying to scroll with my thumb.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
More from Tom's Guide
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
